Farm and Station

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11768, 15 October 1932, Page 12

Farm and Station

FARMING BY ELECTRICITY. According to a Canadian farmer "dio has broken into verse, “press tlie button’’ fanning -may bq introduced beloro 1950 when the farmer who will never grumble will touch a, button at his bedside and will only have to make out his paving-in slips. When 1 awake up in thq morning J. roll around the bed, And press the little button in the wall beside my head ■ The vacuum cleaners in the barn begin their daily chores, Currying the horses and sweeping up the floors; The automatic milker gets busy on the cows. While conveyors pass the hay round for Bossy’s morning browse. | The Leghorn's grain is scattered wide j to make 'em use their legs, | •As the button sets the counter to J adding up the eggs; I A click, a whirr, the rotary is plough-1 ing through the snow, j Which melts like magic off the steps j as the fans begin to blow. I The twenty horse-power saw and axe will, uncomplaining, chop The firewood for the kitchen stove ni>- | til the switch says stop; | Hot water fills the bathtub, and my nose imparts the news, i The electric stove is glowing, and j t]ie good old Mocha brews. i I sMroteh, and feel that zero is not I without its charm J Since Dad at last consented to elec-I trifv the farm. j

This jingle first appeared in the “Farmer and Stockbreeder” (Canada), and was reprinted in the Kilkenny “Bos-.’ -

MILK YIELDING FACTORS

INFLUENCING FACTORS

The main factors influencing yield and quality of milk, stated Mr. James Mackintosh (Reading University) in a recent lecture, are die period of lactation, the age of the cow, its health /the length of the interval between tbe milkings. If they ■could auilk the cows absolutely at ]2 hours’ interval they would get a fractional, increase in the morning above the evening, and a fractional decrease in the fat percentage, but nothing t° worry about. Whenever they lengthened ihe one interval and correspondingly shortened the other they got more milk and less fat after the long interval.

With regard to milking cows three times daily, there was a lack of accurate knowledge of the effect on fa' 1 contents. They could get a uniform yield, but they would not get a uniform butter-fat, and whv, he eouTt. not tell them. Thev would, "however, he believed, lessen the Tislc of Turning out low quality of milk in the liiorii-

A milker who milked quickly, quietly and thoroughly would get all a cow could give of butter-fat. Climate and weather conditions were awkward circumstances to consider: they wore in themselves what he should describe composite factors.

With regard to the question of the kind and quality of the food and its influence, he suggested they .should feed adequately and well, but no* over-feed nor under-feed.

COMPULSORY :de.h orn.tn g

A FINE IDEA, EXPERTS SAY

MINISTER’S PROMISE TO INTRODUCE BILL PROVES POPULAR,

If the Minister of Agriculture (the Hon. C. E. Macmillan) introduces a Bill to make, compulsory the dehorning of all cattle except pedigrees, it will, it appears, be a popular move, and one which many people consider is overdue.

“I am more ill an pleased . to see ihe Minister's statement,’’ said Mr. W. Harris, a former president of 'he Canterbury Master Butchers’ Association. “and I know that: other butchers are pleased.’- Mr. Harris had been a very strong advocate of dehorning, and has delivered several wireless addresses on the subject.

“-Tf-horning should have been made compulsory years ago, - ’ he said. 'Mr. would have saved the country thousands ot' pounds’ worth of loss. Jn Canada it has been compulsory tor the last 30 years, arid breeders in America will refuse to accept anything but a dehorned beast.’’ fftr commented on the disastrous results of congregating horned cattle in a confined space, often seen at Addington on. a sale day. Instances whom hides and flesh had been badly damaged were frequent, and it was not uncommon to see annuals in pain through their horns being snapped either in the truck or in the pens. Several farmers commended the i reposal enthusiastically. One of « uem said he, made a practice of dehorning all his calves before the horns grow to any size, and lie had never bad occasion to cause them any pain. Ho found that in a dairy herd the dehorned cattle were much more contented, and gave a better supply of milk. “Horns were useful at one time in rough country, where the «attle had to forage about for their feed, but this need has disappeared. /Huy are merely a useless ornament, even on show cattle,” he said. “There is a fair amount of dehorning done in isolated places in Cant-

(By “RUSTICUS”)

erbury, though it is not a general practice,” an official 0 f the Agricultural .Department told a “Sun” reporter. “It i.s, I think, o n Die increase, though there is not nearly as much of it as wo should like to see. “Some very well-meaning people who, unfortunately, do not know n uch about l]iis subject, object to dehorning on the grounds of cruelty. As a matter of fact it is in the interests 101 l the animals (.'.lint it should bo carried out. ''There is no doubt that pain is caused when a grown animal is «lc- - horned, but there is more pain caused to individual beasts every day through The 'operation not being performed than there would be in the dehorning of a hord.’’

HIB WOOL CHEQUE

AUCKL AN i > FA R.M ER ’ R COMPLAINT,

HEAVY CHARGE FOR FREIGHT

The extent to which shipping and allied charges ran diminish the value of a wool cheque is illustrated by documents produced by a AV-aikato farmer, who was concerned mainly to show'that, while importers are complaining about freight rales, the. man on i]io land also has' a. grievance, (states the “N.Z. Herald). “And the farmer cannot pass the charges on.” he added. After the deduction of brokerage and sole, expenses 2S bales of woo! sent by 1h 0 farmer for sale in London produced a cheque for -£192 7s Ad. Bid the f 'armor received only £'l22 Os fid, plus exchange amounting io £l2 Os J Id., a. total of £l3l Is od. I lie balance of £‘7o (Is lid was absorbed in tlie following manner:—Freight, £•10 14s; interest on freight, os 8d; warehouse entry, -Is (id; fire and strike insurance, 2s; proportion of cablegram, ss; London dock charges. £ll 9s 10(1: port rate, 7s Id; commission at 2 per emit,. £3 17s lOd. Apart from these charges ihe fanner paid £S 8s io rail his wool from the "Waikato to Auckland, and shipping and other charges at Auckland absorbed £8 3s Rd, Thus the farmer netted £ll7 9s 9d for his 28 bales. Reckoning a- bale lat 101 b., the farmer found that 11,2001 b of wool had brought him 28.207 d., or about 21d a lb.

From that return, of course, has to be deducted the cost of production, and it: is commonly reckoned that a return of a shilling a lb i.-- necessary to recoup the farmer for his expend lure in producing and marketing the wool.

PIG BREEDING

PURE AND CROSS-BRED I’IGS. The following extract is taken from Bulletin 32 (1931.) on “Pig Keeping," issued by the British -Ministry of Agriculture and f isheries - “Butchers and bncon-curers want, uniform pigs from week to week. Uniformity cannot fie obtained by breeding from mongrels. The only way in which to secure uniformity of typo is to breed purebred animals, or definite first crosses between two distinct breeds and, as there is; variation in type within. some breeds, the breeding sows in any one herd should !>e as uniform as possible. 3 lie ideals laid down for pork and bacon can be secured in several ways Jroni the various English I>rends, and the following examples are given .simply ior the guidance of prospective breeders: It should be borne in mind that the Pig Industry Council has recommended the use of a fine-boned type of Large White hoar for breeding nil classes ol" commercial pigs.

demand, fob lean joints. “For Pork:—ln years gone by, breeds like the Small White and the Small Black were favoured for the production of light-weight pork carcases, biit these two breeds have now become partly extinct, because their carcases wore too fat for the taste that had begun to demand leaner pork. That taste continues to grow, and consumers more and more are showing their preference for small, lean joints and small lean “cuts.” More recently the Berkshire and Middle White Yorkshire were regarded as breeds specially suited for small pork production, but evidence is accumulating that the public want still leaner carcases. Jbo result is that many progressive producers and purveyors now prefer t]ic cross obtained from Berkshire or Middle White sows mated to a. Large "White boar; while purebred Large "Whites and first crosses from the Large White boar mated with sows of the bigger breeds, such as th ( > Large Black, Essex and Wessex arc becoming increasingly more popular lor small pork produet-

COIINCIL’S RECOMMENDATIONS. “The purebred Large Wjhifc and crosses produced by the Large White hoar out of sows of the Large Black, Middle White, Berkshire, Essex and Wessex, ’arc recommended by the Pig Industry Council as the best commercial pigs whether for pork or bacon.” 'Hie above frank statement made by tlie Ministry should he taken as a guide to those interested in the production of pork and bacon both for local and overseas trade. The public demand locally prefers lean pork and bacon.